Protection
by ForsakenAlgonquinia
Summary: Orihime and Rukia talk about big brothers while eating strawberry ice cream. -oneshot-


**Characters: **Orihime, Rukia. Mentions of Byakuya and Sora.

**Disclaimer: **Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, not myself.

**A/N: **...Hi! There isn't enough friendship fics with Rukia and Orihime for my liking. So... here I am? I made this post-Winter War, because I think they bonded a lot during that time, and I'm using this fic to push that further. I'm pretending Sora died when Orihime was 10. Please excuse my Canadian-fied spelling and choppy, hard-to-read writing style. :)

* * *

"It's nice to get to spend time with you, Kuchiki-san." The orange-haired girl smiled at the shorter girl beside her. Rukia gave her a small smile in return. "Yeah," she said, adjusting her scarf.

"It's been a while."

Rukia decided to visit Karakura, as she was bored and had nothing better to do. When she got there, she was welcomed by a distracted looking Orihime, who said Ichigo was with Urahara and Ishida. She offered to keep the shinigami company, as she was feeling a bit lonely. Rukia accepted, noting the other girl's forced smile and glassy eyes. It was an abnormally cold day in late summer, and Orihime suggested they go to an ice cream store and eat their last frozen dessert for the season. Orihime rambled on as they walked towards the store.

"So the other day, I got bored and tried to make salad flavoured ice cream, but I didn't have all the ingredients. I went to the grocery store and bought pickles and tuna and lettuce and tomatoes and vanilla ice cream. I saw Ishida-kun there! When I told him about the ice-cream, he turned green and said he had a big lunch, so he didn't want any. I wonder why that is... it tasted great! Oh, we should have went to my place instead and I could give you some, and maybe some for Kuchiki-taichou... your brother..." Orihime trailed off and stopped walking.

"Salad flavoured ice cream? I think ice cream flavoured salad would be much better, but that sounds interesting... Inoue?" Rukia looked over her shoulder and walked over to the shaking young woman.

"Inoue... are you okay?" She put a hand on Orihime's shoulder. She looked up, teary-eyed.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san. I'm fine, don't waste your time worrying about me!" The brown-eyed teen smiled.

"You aren't fine, and I will worry. Come on, the store's just ahead. Can we talk there?" Rukia grabbed Orihime's hand and gently pulled her along, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Will you beat me up and yell at me like you did to Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime timidly asked, wiping her eyes with her free hand.

"I'm not making any promises."

--

Rukia was never good at comforting girls. Heck, she barely knew any at all. That Kiyone girl wasn't a friend, Matsumoto was one of the strongest people she knew and Yoruichi was... well, she was Yoruichi. She had met the lieutenants, but they hadn't talked to her much. But now the human girl was here, sitting in front of her, silently crying and eating the strawberry ice cream they had decided to share. The first girl to open up, to need comfort from her. If it had been anyone else, she would have literally knocked some sense into them. Not this time... not to Orihime.

"It's been 6 years to the day..." Orihime said, sniffing and hiccuping.

"Don't cry. Which day?" Rukia nervously patted the girl's shoulder. Rukia couldn't stand it when people cried in public. Stuff happens, but you have to be strong for others, and yourself.

"He... my brother... died." Orihime started to sob.

"Your brother. I see..." Rukia remembered when the Hollow had attacked, when Ichigo could barely fight when he saw its identity. Inoue Sora, the person who cared for Orihime her whole life.

"Inoue. I'm sorry, I really am. But do you remember when he passed on? Before he went to Soul Society, he saw that you still cared for him, but you had moved on with your life! He is one of the most imporant people to you, but you can't just sit around moping all the time. If you really loved him, you would be happy, for his sake, your friends' sake, and most importantly for your sake!"

Rukia reached out and touched one of the blue hairpins in Orihime's hair.

"No one likes it when people are depressed. You're too pretty to be sad, anyway." She muttered with a half smile. Orihime dried her eyes, still sniffing.

"You think so?" Rukia smirked and nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Kuchiki-san, for being like this. You probably already know, but all I ever wanted from him was protection. From anything, or everything. Whever I was sad, he'd cheer me up. He was always nice to me, and when I had nightmares he'd sing me a lullaby until I fell asleep. Nii-chan watched over me, so when he was gone, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to always feel safe and warm. It's a nice feeling. Kuchiki-taichou watched over you when you were injured, didn't he?"  
"He did."  
"Wasn't it nice? Didn't you feel happy?"  
"He probably had to. Eveyone else was most likely busy. I wish he'd act like a normal big brother, like... nevermind." Rukia looked down. Orihime laughed, shaking her head.

"You're the only person he'd openly show concern for. You're quite lucky, Kuchiki-san!"  
"Well, nii-sama...he doesn't... thanks? He doesn't show it. I barely have any freedom, and anytime I tell him something, he treats it like a waste of time. Like it doesn't matter, like I don't matter."  
"Kuchiki-taicho loves you, Kuchiki-san! He does, he really does. He just has a weird way of showing it. He probably isn't used to showing emotion at all."  
"Wow, you think? I'm grateful. I'm such a bad friend, I'm supposed to be comforting you and here you are, comforting me. Thanks, Inoue." The two chuckled.

"You're very welcome. I don't mind at all!"  
"I don't think we've ever talked this much." Rukia muttered, spooning out the last of their ice-cream.

"I enjoy spending time with you, though. I guess we have more in common than we thought."  
"A need for protection?"  
"And strawberry ice cream. Do you like strawberries, Kuchiki-san?" Rukia eyed her suspiciously.

Orihime stared back, wide-eyed and curious.

"They're pretty good. Sometimes a bit sour, but still nice."

"Personally, I adore strawberries. I guess I haven't tasted sour ones?"  
"That explains it. You're bound to have one, someday."  
"That's true. I'm not sure I'd want to have strawberries ruined for me because of that."  
"So you'd give them up? Who knows, maybe you'd still love them. More than me, even." Rukia laughed quietly, wondering if Orihime had figured out, and would play along.

"I think you love strawberries more than you let on." Rukia stared wide-eyed at the brown-eyed girl in front of her. Orihime smiled innocently, and let it fade into a small, knowing smirk.

"At least you're honest. You could steal hi- I mean it away from me."

"But I'm being so shallow! I was so scared, and then all I wanted was for _my_ safety! I wanted him to protect me, like he usually does. I couldn't pull through, couldn't save the one I-"

"Oh, our worst traits always show when we don't want them to. I'm constantly making a fool of myself in front of nii-sama, and you wouldn't have been kidnapped if I hadn't given Ichigo my powers. I always get into horrible situations, and get everyone else-"  
"Now we're arguing about which one of us is the worse person. Kuchiki-san, we could go on forever about how someone else is better than us. We're our harshest critics. This whole conversation has been quite depressing, even though we got to know each other much better. Maybe we should talk about each others' good traits. You're strong and kind, and you're really likeable."  
"Well, you're beautiful and honest with yourself, and an essential part of our team." The two girls smiled at each other.

"We should get going soon, the shop's about to close. Plus, everyone's been staring since we got here; it's really awkward." Rukia stated. Orihime looked around. Sure enough, she saw many whip their heads in a different direction and start to whistle and distract themselves.

"I see... It's really easy to talk to you, Kuchiki-san. I hope, that if Kurosaki-kun... chooses one of us, we could still be friends." They had seen each other in a moment of weakness, Orihime was sure they had bonded.  
"Definitely. And if that stupid berry hurts you, I'll kick his ass. That's a promise." Rukia grinned, walking out of the shop with her friend. Orihime giggled.

"So you do like him, huh... so we're a team! It's two against one, I knew it! We'll win!" Orihime squealed excitedly. Rukia laughed.

"That again? Sure, sure. We'll win."

"Think he's a good brother?" Orihime quietly asked as they headed to Orihime's place.

"The overprotective freak? I bet he's a great one."

* * *

Pffft. I don't like how it turned out, it was waaay better in my head x_x.

I hope some of you remember the team thing from when that girl asked Rukia if she "had the hots for Kurosaki". ^^;

Uhhh yeah. Review pleease?


End file.
